“Did you just apologize?” I could hardly believe it. The man never apologized for anything.
He shot a look meant to warn me.
“Just wanted to be sure,” I said flippantly. Not like you’re one to make mistakes, let alone admit to it. Lying, on the other hand…
“Very well, you were right; I had another motive for the gift. I acquired Vaughn because I planned to kill him after you had your words with the man.”
“I thought you couldn’t touch other 10 Club members?” Of course, it was a rule they followed superficially.
“I obtained clearance as part of the deal. I needed to know you would be safe after I am gone. Needless to say, I now know that I have nothing to fear; you are capable of doing whatever is necessary to survive. Even kill your foe. So, I suppose you might argue the gift was for me.”
His “gift” had turned me into a cold-hearted killer that I didn’t recognize. Bottom line, however, I didn’t want to think about it anymore. I needed to focus on something else, or I might crack the rest of the way. Letting that happen when I was so close to the end would be a tragedy.
Next time you want to give me a gift, try some clothes.
“I am glad you mentioned that; I would like to take you somewhere special tonight. The dress is waiting in your room.”
“I meant that you should wear clothes, not buy me some.” Sitting next to his naked body made it hard to remember why I hated the man or why I couldn’t trust him. “We’re not going to an empty restaurant in San Francisco, are we?”
He flashed a wolfish smile. “I can arrange that, if you prefer.”
“No.”
“As I thought. Which is why I will take you somewhere special to me. From my childhood.”
“We’ll be alone?” I asked to confirm my suspicions.
“Someone must cook and serve the food. However, we will have the opportunity to talk privately so that you may ask me anything you like. I assumed this would be an adequate compromise to my earlier proposal.”
My eyes wandered over to his lean muscular legs, up to his groin, where he’d left his legs open.
Crap. Don’t look. Luckily my mind was quickly back in control, smothering those tingles concentrating in my core and between my legs. Seriously, there was no rational reason for the effect this man had on me.
“Then it is settled.” King slowly rose from the sand and dusted off his hard bronzed ass. I tried not to look, but it was impossible.
“I’m going to take a soak in my tub. Care to join me?” he asked.
I blinked. It wasn’t a tub, but a round, large sunken pool with tiles made of the same deep blues as the Aegean Sea and smack in the center of his room like some ancient Grecian spa. I’d literally dreamed about bathing with him in it a million times—our bodies wet and steaming as I rode his muscled frame and devoured his sensual lips with my mouth.
King lifted one dark, silky brow. “My, my, Miss Turner. You do have quite the dirty mind. I hope to sample the fruits of its labor before my time is up. Perhaps tonight?”
I shook my head, feeling ashamed. My imagination was out of control. “No.”
“Such a shame, as I think we both might enjoy it.” King shrugged and began walking toward the house, dissolving into thin air right before my eyes. “I hope you like the dress, Mia.”
“I didn’t agree to go with you.”
“Do not be late,” his disembodied voice called out. “It displeases me.”
Pompous jerk. I hung my head and covered my face before blowing out a slow breath. I tried not to be excited about tonight, but I was. I tried not to hate myself for it, but I did.
But what about the thing Mack said?
Focus on something else. I needed to keep that to myself. If something really was wrong with King, it changed nothing. Not the fundamentals, anyway. Eyes on the prize, Mia. And his believing my ignorance over the matter would be my only defense should anything go wrong. Think of something else, think of something else, I chanted inside my head.
It wasn’t hard to move my thoughts back to images of King’s naked, rock-hard body, and to the unsettling mystery of what he planned for tonight.
CHAPTER FIVE
When I returned to the house after a few hours of deep contemplation interrupted by quiet fits of panic, I finally had my game plan figured out for the evening. The old Mia would have hummed and hawed, but King was right. Today I’d learned that this Mia wasn’t simply colder and perhaps crazier, but she was stronger, too. This Mia could face her fears and do what had to be done. Which was exactly why I wouldn’t allow my worries to get in the way of my goal: saving Justin, and, therefore, saving my parents’ hearts. Everything else was noise.
So, if bringing Justin back required me to share an intimate dinner with King and force myself to feel something for the man, then that’s what I would do. I would push myself to see him, really truly see him for who he was, without judgment or fear. Besides, I’d already met his bad side. Maybe if I did this, I’d get to see more of his soft underbelly.
I wearily climbed the stairs towards King’s room, but found Stefanos Spiros, the head of the Spiros family and of King’s mysterious Greek mafia, blocking my way. Stefanos was also the chief of police, which is why he wore an intimidating uniform.
“You are to go to your personal chamber to prepare for tonight,” he said with a thick Greek accent. “To the left and at the end of the corridor.”
I had stayed in King’s suite during my handful of nights at the estate, upon King’s request.
“Why the change?” Not that I minded, but King never did anything without a reason.
Stefanos shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t care. When our king asks me to do something, I do it.”
“And when I’m your queen, what then?” I asked just to torment him. “Will you follow me blindly, too?”
“No. You are not my king,” he replied.
“And I’m a Seer of Light.” The Spiros were not super-fans of my heritage—being related to Hagne—despite the fact she’d died over three thousand years ago. The strange part was that the Seer “gift” was passed on through bloodlines, but not everyone had it. How did I know? There were quite a few women in my family—cousins and aunts, yet I was the last living Seer. The end of the line.
“Yes.” He narrowed his dark eyes, eyes that matched his thick brown hair.
“You do realize how ridiculous it is to hold a grudge that long.”
“We have our reasons,” he replied.
“Such as?”
He gestured toward the corridor to the left, meaning he wasn’t going to answer. “Ypirétria awaits to assist you.”
I sighed. “In what?”
“Dressing for your evening. The helicopter leaves in thirty minutes.” He glanced at his watch. “Make that twenty-eight minutes.”
There was no point in asking where I was going because King would have already told me if he wanted me to know. “Thank you, Stefanos.” I nodded. “I’ll be ready in forty.”
The look in his eyes told me he was about to remind me of King’s punctuality obsession but decided against it. After all, it was my ass that would be chewed out by King for being late, not his.
I passed Stefanos on the stairwell and was almost to the top when I stopped. “Stefanos?”
He gazed up at me from the bottom of the stairs.
“I’m sorry if my being here makes your family feel uncomfortable.”
He gave me a cold look. “You won’t live forever.”
I assumed he thought I’d want to live here until my last dying breath, even after King departed this world. I had no such intentions. “I’ll be out of your hair by next week, actually.”
He gave me a peculiar look, then glanced at his watch. “Twenty-seven minutes.”
I shook my head and continued on my way. When I got to the fairly large room with a balcony overlooking the side garden, Ypirétria, which was Greek for “maid,” sat in the corner with a pair of knitting needles a
nd pink yarn.
“Hi. I’m back,” I said, knowing she didn’t understand English (nor I her language), but saying nothing felt strange.
She blurted out an exclamation I imagined meant, “Where the hell have you been, young lady?” But who knew?
“I went for a long walk.” I made my fingers walk across my palm to illustrate.
The elderly woman, who wore a black drapey dress and scarf, pointed to the bathroom and mimed that I needed to shave my legs.
Err. Okay…thanks for the concern? “I’ll be ready in five minutes.” I held up five fingers, expecting she’d get the cue to leave.
She mumbled something, shook her finger at me, and then pointed to my armpits, once again miming that I was to shave.
I’m twenty-six years old and have a mother, I thought, but didn’t want to say something so rude, even if she couldn’t understand.
She walked over to the enormous walk-in closet and emerged with a black satin strapless dress. She swept her hand over the front as if presenting me with a very nice gift, which I’m sure it was. King didn’t buy dresses off the clearance rack at Macy’s or Neiman’s—my usual hunting grounds. But with its ultrashort hem and scandalously plunging neckline, it was the sort of dress a woman wore when she didn’t intend to keep it on very long.
My body involuntarily reacted to the thought of King selecting something so seductive for me.
The woman then pointed right at my groin while making her other hand into scissors. “See-reez-ma,” she said slowly.
I scratched my head. “You want me to groom the kitty?”
“You make di lobe tonight,” she said in broken English. “Sex weet King.”
My jaw dropped. Not because the woman could barely speak a lick of English and had managed to say something so shocking, but because it gave me a sick sort of sexual satisfaction imagining King telling her how he wanted me to look for him, right down to my naked body.
Get it together, Mia. This is a mind game. The guy was probably in the room right now, watching me and enjoying the hell out of my reaction. Well, I wasn’t going to give him one.
I cleared the sticky, indecent thoughts from my throat. “No. You tell King, no sex. No sex tonight.”
The woman repeated her instructions.
“Tell King if he wants sex, he can go fuck himself.”
She stared.
“You don’t understand me, do you?” I asked.
She slapped her palms together, symbolizing a man and woman lying together. “You make di sex tonight.” She nodded happily as if she believed we’d come to some sort of understanding, and then walked from the room, leaving the dress laid out on the bed.
Lord, help me.
The entire time I showered—yes, and shaved—I kept thinking about the part of me that really did want him. He was a beast that oozed sexual desire. More like a goddamned lion. And you’re lunch.
So why couldn’t I make the feelings go away?
Mia. Stop. Just be on your guard and stay focused. We had the Artifact now and were so close to the end of this nightmare. Justin would be brought back. King’s suffering would end.
And King will be gone from your life forever.
I drew in a deep breath, the hot water beating down mercilessly on my tense neck. “This is goodbye.” The man who’d lived over three thousand years, who’d witnessed the world age and change, would soon cease to exist. And curse or no curse, this would be the end of something profoundly epic, the end of a king from a lost civilization.
My mind quickly began to wander. What had the world—his world—been like? What had King been like? I tried to imagine him before Hagne’s evil had sunk its claws into his soul and turned his life into an unimaginable suffering, but I couldn’t. I couldn’t visualize King being…well, a king. Or just a man. With a heart and worries, with disappointments and triumphs, just like anyone else.
Whoever he once was and whatever he knew would soon be gone. Just like that. All to end his suffering and for “everything to be set right again, for everyone to get back what was taken,” as he’d once said.
I finished rinsing my body and shut off the water, solemnly comprehending that there would be a sacrifice on his part. A big one. And just like that, I felt my heavy mental armor eroding.
King was going to die.
Feeling like the wind had been knocked out of me, I sat on the bed and held my hands over my mouth. Evil tendencies or not, the good in him triumphed. No, it wasn’t love, but it was a start. A start to our end.
~~~
Forty minutes later on the dot, I made my way down the stairs—shaved, plucked, hair swept up into a twist, and a hint of red for my lips—in a dress that barely left room to sit, let alone breathe. My breasts nearly spilled from the top of the black satin scallops that formed the neckline, and only a centimeter of flesh stood between me and exposing my nipples to the world.
“You look very nice, Miss Turner,” Stefanos held out his arm, “but you are late.”
I carefully took the last step in my spiked black heels before latching on to him. “Sorry. But King ordered additional grooming for tonight.”
Stefanos raised one dark brow but did not say a word.
He walked me through the spacious living room and a side door, where a gleaming black, very large and fast-looking helicopter awaited on the cement pad. With the sun almost completely set and the sky streaked with hot pink bolts, my ride looked more like an evil black beast waiting to whisk me away to the land of sin.
I shuddered and my skin erupted with goose bumps.
“Are you all right?” asked Stefanos, probably wondering why I’d stopped moving.
I had a very bad feeling all of a sudden. It’s your nerves, Mia. Suck it up.
I flashed a glance at the sleek helicopter. The pilot wore a tux and stood at attention next to a set of small steps placed beneath the door. He quickly bowed, and it made me laugh. King wanted very badly to make me feel special tonight.
Maybe that’s why you feel nervous.
“Miss Turner?” Stefanos said. “It’s time to go.”
I took a deep breath and made my way to the black beast.
“Good evening, Miss Turner. Right this way.” The pilot gestured toward the cabin.
“Thank you.” I flashed a polite smile.
Once inside, I paused for a moment to take in the extravagant decor. I’d never been inside a helicopter, but this looked more like the executive lounge at some swanky nightclub—black leather seats surrounding a table topped with a bottle of champagne chilling in a bucket. The recessed lights were slightly dimmed, and calming spa-like music piped in from the surround sound system. It actually felt larger and more spacious than King’s private jet.
“Have a lovely evening, my queen.” Stefanos dipped his head and shut the door after the pilot climbed in.
“Make yourself comfortable.” The pilot proceeded to the front cabin and shut the door behind him. The engine cranked almost immediately, but instead of a roar like I’d seen in movies, the sound was a quiet purr.
I stood there staring at the empty chairs, wondering where the real alcohol was hidden.
“We are about to depart, Miss Turner,” said the pilot over the intercom. “Please take your seat.”
I felt the floor lift beneath me straight into the air, and my stomach lurched. I definitely need whiskey.
I sat patiently for a few minutes, twisting my body toward the window to watch us make our way over the ocean. But instead of going north as I thought we would, the helicopter headed east, away from the setting sun.
I kicked off my heels to make walking a bit safer and popped open the door to the cockpit. The noise was deafening.
“Hey!” I screamed. “Where are we going?”
The pilot, a thin man with gray hair, couldn’t hear me with his headphones on, so I poked his shoulder.
He glanced at me with a startled expression.
“Sorry.” I repeated my question, and he pointed to a
headset hanging on the wall. I carefully slid it over my hair. “Where are we going?”
Looking ahead, the pilot responded, “I have been instructed not to speak to you or answer your questions.”
“Seriously?”
“He does not want the surprise ruined. We’ll be at our destination in an hour. I suggest you relax and make yourself comfortable.”
Great. It was clear I wouldn’t be getting any answers from this guy. I missed Mack already. At least he spoke to me.
My gaze momentarily set on my right wrist as I thought of him. Yes, I’d worn the bracelet. I’d told myself it was because I needed something to go with the outfit, that I would never run and leave my parents to deal with the loss of two children. But truth was, it gave me comfort knowing that if things got bad, really bad, I had an option. As an added precaution, I still wore the ring King had given me. Also from King’s arsenal of powerful goodies, the giant solitaire did more than simply decorate one’s finger. It could bring a person back to life if they wore it at the time of death. Yes, I’d already used it once. Not so fun, but very handy.
“Oh, and Miss Turner?” said the pilot, just as I was about to slip off the headset. “If you prefer, there is a nice bottle of scotch in the cupboard above the sink in the back. I had to secure it so it wouldn’t break.”
King’s pulling out all the stops tonight.
“Thank you.” I slipped off the headphones.
Back inside my soundproofed luxury cubbyhole in the sky, I found my prized elixir of the nerves and poured two fingers’ worth. I couldn’t make out the distillery on the old faded label, but the golden brown liquid tasted like velvety smoke and sweet toffee. This was an expensive treat, no doubt.
I took a seat and breathed it in, using the beverage as a way to keep my mind from feeling anxious. Wherever we were going, I imagined it would be interesting. Someplace special, he’d said. The man really wanted out of his curse, so it made sense he’d be making a special effort. Hell, maybe that was why Mack had seen a change in him—not that I had. But after three-thousand-something years, King had to be going crazy. He was so, so close to seeing his suffering end.
KING OF ME (THE KING TRILOGY Book 3) Page 5